Visitors at businesses can slip and fall for many different reasons. Malfunctioning refrigeration units, uncleaned spills and even debris or precipitation tracked in on the shoes of others can result in people slipping, falling and sustaining significant injuries.
Slip-and-falls can result in broken bones and painful soft tissue injuries. They can also cause brain injuries in some cases. Frequently, businesses can prevent the vast majority of slip-and-falls with appropriate facility maintenance.
Unfortunately, companies often put profitability ahead of safety and customer service. A failure to have enough staff members on the schedule could be the underlying cause of a slip and fall that leaves a visitor injured.
Understaffing is a common practice
Not that long ago, most retail establishments prioritized providing a comfortable and convenient customer experience. They trained workers to greet every visitor and provide them with the best level of service possible.
Many companies have since abandoned that approach. They instead wish to control operating costs even if it means sacrificing the level of service provided and the maintenance of the retail establishment. Companies now routinely schedule fewer workers than the business actually requires to run efficiently. They then pressure those workers to do far more than their fair share of labor.
Workers spread too thin by understaffing inevitably leave certain job tasks incomplete or have to delay them until after the store closes for the evening. Frequently, cleaning and maintenance are among the tasks that end up delayed and unaddressed when workers don’t have enough support.
It is predictable that employees cannot attend to a spill or mop a messy entranceway when there are only two people in the entire store. At least one of them likely needs to be at the cash register, and the other may need to split their time between restocking and assisting customers.
When other people can clearly see that a business didn’t do what was necessary for safety, injured people may be able to assert that the company was negligent. They could then request compensation for property damage losses, medical expenses and lost wages caused by the slip-and-fall incident.
Recognizing that understaffing is a common form of business negligence in the retail sector can help injured visitors find the courage to take action. People who pursue a premises liability lawsuit after a slip-and-fall incident may help limit their personal losses and potentially prompt the company to revise its current policies.